Something New
by Richonne Writing Network
Summary: They're not ready to tell their friends quite yet... but they will in their own time. In the meantime, they're having fun keeping it a secret. Sequel to Something Olde (Five Times Rick and Michonne Slept Together Before They Actually Addressed It)
1. Chapter 1 - prequel (pillow talk)

**chapter one: **_**prequel (pillow talk) **_

**:::: **_reciprocityfic_ ::::

* * *

"Hi."

Rick's whispered word made Michonne giggle softly, as they laid in her bed, on their sides and facing each other. After addressing all the unspoken thoughts and feelings between them, and after their celebratory tryst in the park, they had bailed out of pub night early, with Rick feigning some sort of stomach bug and Michonne offering to be a good friend and drive him home. Their ride had been full of loaded looks and sly smiles, tension brewing and bubbling until it became nearly unbearable. It was a different type, though, than the pressure that had been weighing them down in the past weeks - the pressure of uncertainty, of hidden emotion, of wanting something so badly but not quite having it.

They welcomed this new kind of tension. The kind that lifted them up and pushed them together, that opened themselves to each other and shoved out all they'd been nervous to reveal. Making them able to enjoy each other freely, to let go of anything they'd been holding back and finally _be_ with each other.

That same tension made their _second_ celebratory tryst of the night begin as soon as Michonne had managed to unlock her front door. Rick was on her in half a second, gathering her up into his arms and kissing down her neck. They'd fallen onto the couch and fallen into each other, and they filled the open living room with breathless sighs, strangled moans, and high-pitched whimpers until Rick collapsed on top of her; they held each other afterwards, murmuring hushed words and sweet nothings back and forth.

Then, in what seemed like no time at all, they'd wrapped themselves around each other for a third time. In the process, they'd finally managed to make it to her bed. And now, here they rested, gazing at each other like they were the only two people who existed in all the world - sated, glowing, and so, so _happy_.

"Hi," she whispered back to him, taking her index finger and trailing it down his naked chest, before grabbing his hand that lay between them in hers.

She giggled again. She couldn't help it, and almost covered up her mouth with her free hand until she heard Rick join in her laughter. She looked up at him, saw the same mirth in his eyes that she felt in her heart.

"God," she said, shaking her head back and forth as she took a deep breath and tried to gather herself. "I feel like I'm eighteen again."

"Giddy and fallin' in love for the first time?"

Rick immediately regretted what he said when he realized he'd used the L word. Sure, he could already feel the first stirrings of it coming together deep in his chest, but he hadn't meant to admit that to anyone yet. Especially her.

_Good one, Grimes, _he thought to himself. _You just got her, and you're already gonna scare her away._

But then, he felt her hand come up to rest on his cheek while her fingers curled through his hair, and his inner voice shut up.

"Exactly like that," she confirmed with a grin. "You feeling the same way?"

"'Chonne, I've been feeling that way since you found me out on that curb outside the bar."

They both burst out laughing, and he let go of her hand and reached out toward her, trailing his fingers down her smooth, perfect back and wrapping his arm around her waist to pull her closer. She scooted up slightly so that their faces were exactly aligned, and then leaned forward to rest their foreheads together.

"When did you know?" she breathed.

He didn't have to ask what she meant; he knew she was talking about the first time he knew there was something more between them. The first time he knew that he liked her in a way that went further than just being best friends.

He decided to start light.

"Well, from the moment Shane and Rosita introduced us, I thought you were the prettiest, sexiest girl I'd ever met."

He paused as she rolled her eyes playfully, and gently kicked at his leg under the sheets.

"Hey, it's true!" he defended. "But other than that, when did I know?"

And he _did_ know. He didn't even have to think about it.

"Do you remember Glenn's birthday party awhile back?" he asked.

She nodded, and he continued.

"Well, it was after most people had left. We were all sitting out back in a circle - me and you, Shane and Rosita, Maggie and Glenn. Andrea, I think. You were sitting right across from me. And while we were talking, Shane said something stupid, like he usually does. I looked at him and shook my head, and when I looked back - I saw you. Your head was thrown back, and you were laughing with your whole body. The smile on your face was so huge and wide, and you looked...so happy and relaxed and free."

He could feel his heart speed up just from talking about it. A warm blush began to take over his face, and he glanced up at the ceiling above them, almost embarrassed to reveal something he held so dear and secret for so long.

"It was… It was kind of the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen in my life," he finished.

He swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat, and was about to nervously babble something - _anything_ \- he could think of, when he heard her whisper his name.

"Rick."

He looked down to find her staring at him, her eyes shining. He couldn't quite read the expression on her face, but she leaned in and gave him the gentlest kiss they'd shared in the short span of time since they'd started this together.

When they pulled away, there was a soft smile on her face, and he chalked her reaction to his story up as a good thing.

"Your turn," he informed her quietly, as he ran his lips across the bridge of her nose. "When did you know?"

"Well," she began, blowing a puff of air past her lips. "It seems you were a few steps ahead of me. Mine was at the wedding. At the reception, when the bridal party was doing their first dance together. And you and I were paired up, and we were dancing. You were so close, and we were talking back and forth, and looking at each other, and it was… It felt nice. I'm not even sure what it was about it, or why it was _that_ moment when I finally realized it. There was just something good about it. Something _really_ good."

"Is that why you chose that night to jump me for the first time?"

She scoffed at his words, and pointed her finger; then, tapped it on his chin, once.

"Let's be clear and truthful, Rick Grimes. If anyone jumped anybody that night, it was _you_ who jumped _me._"

He chuckled at their teasing back and forth, and then caught her finger, still suspended in the air between them, in his mouth. He bit it lightly before kissing the tip of it.

"If that's how you choose to remember it, so be it. I'm just glad someone chose to do the jumping."

She grinned, and then wrapped her hand around his bicep and gave it a small squeeze.

"I am, too."

They fell into a comfortable silence, and twisted closer to each other. Rick ended up laying on his back, while Michonne laid on top of him, her head tucked under his chin and their hands clasped together again.

"What are we gonna tell people?" she asked eventually.

He thought for a moment, and then shrugged, glancing down at her.

"What do you wanna tell people?"

"I don't know," she murmured, as she played with his fingers. "I mean, it's not that I want to hide it, but I… I think it might be nice to keep it to ourselves for a bit. So we can figure all the new stuff out without being subjected to everyone else's opinions and quote-unquote _advice, _and so we can just _be_ for a little. Without having to factor anyone else into it."

He took a second to mull it over before nodding.

"We can definitely do that."

"Is that okay with you, though?" she said, as she shifted to get a better look at him. She didn't want to make him do something he was uncomfortable with. "If it's not, we can think of something else."

"Michonne, I'll do whatever you wanna do, whether that means never telling anyone about it ever for the rest of our lives, or takin' an ad out in the newspaper tomorrow. But, I do think it would be nice not to tell anyone for a little bit. To enjoy us being together and not having to worry about anything."

"And when we want to tell them, we can," Michonne mused. "And we'll be able to choose when and how we want to do it. It'll be on our own terms."

"I have to warn you, though. Shane knows."

She shot up in bed, and gaped at him.

"What? How?"

"Well, he doesn't _know_ know," Rick modified. "But I think he's starting to suspect something. We were together at the bar when I was watching you play pool with that guy and he asked you out and shit. I was more than annoyed, and by the way Shane kept looking at me, I think he was starting to figure out why."

"Shit," Michonne mumbled. "Well, don't say anything to him."

He pressed his lips together tightly for a quick moment.

"Lips are sealed, baby."

Her stomach fluttered at the term of endearment. She moved so she was completely on top of him, every plane of her body pressed flush against his. Heat rolled through her, and she smirked as she pushed one of his curls that had fallen into his face back behind his ear.

"I like that," she murmured seductively. "You calling me baby."

"Yeah?" he breathed, a devilish grin lighting up his face. He rotated them again so that she was on her back. Now, he hovered over her, staring down with a glint in his eyes that made her legs spread further open for him of their own accord. "I can think of some other things you like, too, baby."

He leaned down and kissed her, open-mouthed and passionate, tongues dancing and lips smacking. When they pulled apart, their gazes locked.

And she started giggling, _again_, as something close to shyness washed over her. It was strange, because she had never been shy. Certainly not with _Rick_, and certainly not after the number of times they'd done this by now.

But the feeling was there, all the same.

"Why does this feel like the first time I'm having sex all over again?" she questioned, reaching up and wrapping her arms around his neck. She buried her face into his shoulder.

She expected some sort of smart, funny reply from him. But when it didn't come, she leaned back, and found him gazing at her with a thoughtful smile on his face.

"I think it's because we both know it's important. And because we both know what it is we're doing this time."

She grinned brightly, and ran her fingers down the side of his face.

"Yeah," she agreed. "We do."

He captured her lips once again, and as she wrapped her legs around his waist, they started in on round four.


	2. Chapter 2 - a very good morning

**chapter two: ****a very good morning**

**:::: **IminyJo ::::

* * *

Rick could smell and hear the unmistakable signs of bacon being cooked in his kitchen as he opened his eyes to an empty space beside himself in bed. He stifled a small snicker as he heard the loud pop of grease leaping out of a pan and the inevitable little yelp as well. He pulled the pair of jeans he'd discarded on the floor the night before up over his hips and headed for the kitchen.

"Damn it!" He heard Michonne saying to herself as he padded down the stairs. "Stupid, Michonne..."

As he reached the doorway to the kitchen he paused arrested by a sight that actually made his breath catch for a moment. Michonne stood with her back to him in nothing but his blue denim button-down, swaying to music only she heard. The shirt was oversized on her but still only barely reached her thighs. So as she raised her arms to stir a pot sitting on the back burner, it rose just enough for Rick to see her lacey jade green panties underneath. Her smooth, sinewy brown thighs beckoned to him as they had the night before and he was forced to concentrate in order to think of anything beyond being buried between them again. _Being buried between them in perpetuity._ Though he was hungry and the smells of bacon and chives and peppers made his stomach growl, looking at her there, his mind winded a more circuitous, arduous but ultimately rewarding route to satiation.

It was almost confounding to him, discovering that this woman he'd known for so long and who had been just a friend until recently could suddenly wield such power over him. To know that now, with just a toss of her long beautiful locs or a tilt of the head or a small smile she could make all Rick's rational thought dissolve into a puddle of desire was astonishing. But she could, she had that capacity now. As he stood, leaned against the doorframe observing her moving skillfully between various things on the range top, he marveled at it. He was amazed by how much had changed between them and how quickly.

Michonne turned, just then, to attend to the items on a cutting board sitting on the middle island. "Oh!"

He had startled her but she recovered quickly giving him a bashful smile.

"You aren't hurting yourself in here?" He looked around, and though it looked like chaos, it was obvious she had everything well in hand.

"You heard me talking to myself." She smiled, licking something off one of her fingers. "I'm just a little underdressed to be cooking bacon."

Rick nodded, looking at her slender fingers and suddenly regretted not having announced himself sooner so he could do that for her. He moved into the room toward her as she expertly halved and then quartered melon on the cutting board. When he reached her, she leaned toward him and kissed his mouth quickly before looking back down at all the fruit she had in front of her.

"I'm pretty sure I didn't have all this in my refrigerator last night," he remarked looking at a pan of bacon, a pot of what looked like grits and the ingredients for omelettes sitting in a bowl by the stovetop.

"I might have run out earlier for a couple things," she admitted.

"Really? I didn't hear you leave."

She smiled to herself and licked another finger as he watched closely. "Well, you _were _knocked out, so that's understandable."

"Oh?" Rick said bemused by the slight teasing in her tone. He had slept like a rock though, he could admit to that.

Michonne walked over to the sink and washed the handfuls of fruit before putting it into a bowl. Rick stole a strip of bacon off the paper towel it was draining onto while her back was turned and popped it into his mouth.

"I mean, I did ride you like a Preakness pony…"

At her words, Rick accidentally inhaled a piece of bacon while Michonne casually tossed a grape into her mouth turning back to face him. He choked, utterly stunned by her matter-of-fact delivery, grabbing at the corners of the island to brace himself, coughing. After a moment, Michonne rushed to his side rubbing his back and patting it firmly.

"I'm sorry," She said as his face grew red and his eyes watered. "Too much?"

"Maybe a little," he wheezed, raising his hand to show her a small space between his thumb and index finger. He took a deep breath once his passages cleared. "Although, it never hurts a man to hear himself compared favorably to a thoroughbred."

He wiggled his eyebrows, giving her a slick smile to show he had recovered fully. She scoffed then, slapping him hard on the backside with her open palm before returning to the stove. This was the side of Michonne he'd only glimpsed when they were merely friends. The side they brought out in each other of late. She had a naughty sense of humor that he thoroughly enjoyed and had them on the verge of laughter even while they were in the throes of intense passion.

Rick slid in behind her and put his hands around her waist as she poured the egg mixture into a pan. Rick could feel her cheeks spread into a smile as he placed his beside hers, resting his chin on her shoulder and pulling her midsection into him. He put his lips to her neck, pushing her locs to the side.

"Hmm...Cold eggs are not tasty," she warned as he grew more amorous.

"I'm willing to suffer through, if you are," he murmured planting small kisses along the length of her throat up to her ear.

Michonne turned the dials on the range to "off" before turning to him and meeting his mouth. For easily the dozenth time since they began, Rick wondered why they hadn't figured this thing between them out earlier. As he had been more and more recently, he lamented all the time they'd already missed. She took his jawline in her hands and deepened their kiss boldly, running her tongue along his top lip. She'd only done it a handful of times before and it was already enough to make Rick lose his mind with need.

Rick put his hands under Michonne's bottom and pulled her up onto his waist. She bit his bottom lip lightly and then sucked it into her mouth. He spun and put her to sit on the island countertop. She squirmed immediately, trying to slide off as he blocked her body with his own.

"Not the counter, Rick!"

"Why not?" He pulled his face back from the underside of her chin to query.

"Sterile surface? I was cooking?" She looked at him askance, clearly hoping those groupings of words together bore significance to him.

"So? I'd still eat off it...I'd eat off you."

To illustrate his point, he grabbed errant pieces of strawberry still on the cutting board and placed them carefully between her breasts as she smiled at him, amused. He smiled slyly as he licked the bits of fruit from her cleavage, making certain to follow the moist trail they left as they slid down her chest plate. She giggled as his tongue tickled her, gasping lightly as he lapped a final strawberry up into his mouth with boyish glee.

"Look, now I'm gonna be all sticky," she pouted.

"Don't worry, I can always lick you clean, Darlin'."

Rick flashed her a wicked grin as he slipped his hands under her shirt to hook the corners of her panties with his thumbs and slid them smoothly off her hips. Michonne eyelids lowered seductively as she watched him secret the frilly things away in his back pocket. She smiled back and wrapped her legs around him, drawing him into her further. She linked her ankles behind him trapping him between her thighs, which was exactly where he'd hoped to end up when he walked into the kitchen.

Being a man of his word, Rick lowered his head, all set to show her exactly what he meant. He leaned forward, his mouth opening to set upon one of her darkly tipped nipples that now peeked out from her open shirt. Just then, he heard the unmistakable crunch of the gravel in his driveway. He paused, looking up, praying it was his imagination.

"What?" Michonne asked, her back already arched to receive him.

"Wait," he answered, training his ear toward the noise. He put his finger to his lips. "Shhhh."

He released Michonne and she slid slowly down onto her own feet in front of him. She cocked her head and listened too.

The sound of a car engine turning off and a door opening and slamming closed were clear in the silence that now enveloped the room. Rick looked down into Michonne's wide eyes. He was certain his face wore the exact same "oh shit" expression as hers.

"Please tell me we locked the front door when we came in last night?" He plead.

She looked up at him in alarm, pausing for a moment before shrugging. She put her hands over her mouth.

"Damn." He could hear the creaking of the wood on his front steps as whoever it was ascended.

Rick looked around at the all food items strewn about various surfaces of the kitchen. Michonne had been making an undoubtedly excellent meal by the look of it but she hadn't been neat about it. Not that it mattered–Rick checked his watch–at nine in the morning. There was no reasonable or plausible reason for Michonne to be standing in his kitchen in only his dress shirt but the obvious one. They looked at each other again.

"Do you—?" He began to suggest just coming clean to whomever it was on the other side of his front door. More and more in the past few days the thought came to him unbidden and instead of frightening him with its enormity, it settled him.

_Did they want to do this?_

"What?" She whispered to him but her eyes seemed to know what he was saying. "_Do you?_"

Before he could answer the gentle tinkle of the windchimes on the porch let them both know someone was nearly at the door. Michonne moved toward the doorway attempting to beat whoever it was to the stairs in the hallway. _She wouldn't make it._ The door handle turned, they could hear the latch give and the whine of the old hinges. Rick craned his head to one side to look down the hall through the glass pane of his front door.

_It was Shane_.

He pointed toward his pantry and she spun on her heel, looking at him frantically. He snapped his fingers, vigorously pointing toward the pantry door as he stepped into full view of the door. All he could do at this point was distract his best friend enough to keep him out of the kitchen.

"Rise and shine!" Shane announced jovially coming through the door.

"Buddy! Whatever happened to calling first?" Rick scratched his head and made like he was stretching as he strolled out of the kitchen.

"Rosita's at a Sunday morning yoga class so I hoped to grab my buddy and get some breakfast. Is that not allowed now that I'm a married man?" Shane asked feigning insult walking down the hall.

Rick met him midway, slapping a hand on his shoulder and steering him gently back toward the door.

"'Course not, I'm just surprised to see you. I thought y'all's Sundays were sacrosanct?" Rick knew that was a class normally Michonne would be at. She was going to have to answer to her friends for missing it.

"Not versus a chance to hang with the girls and do the brunch thing, apparently," Shane confessed a little deflated.

_Now his sudden appearance made a lot more sense. He was lonely._

"Well, c'mon. Let's go."

"Um, I think you'll find," Shane smirked, looking around and peering down the hall over Rick's shoulder. "...that you need a shirt and shoes to receive service in most establishments 'round here, pardner."

Rick reddened. "I'm just hungry."

Rick reasoned that leaving with Shane now would provide Michonne an escape route and also give him an alibi relative to Michonne's disappearance, even if they'd still have to field questions from friends later.

"Sure," Shane said unconvinced as Rick turned and bounded up his stairs, taking them two at a time.

"Be right there!" Rick called from his room. "Gimme a sec!"

As he pulled on his shirt and shoes, he heard light taps at his window. Going to it, he looked out and saw Michonne standing in the backyard looking up at him.

"What the he—"

"Nevermind all that." She waved his words away. "Throw down my clothes, Rapunzel!" She called in harsh whisper.

He looked around quickly until he located them then did what she asked.

"And my underwear?" She asked, pushing his shirt down and pulling her shirt on over it. She shimmied the shirt to the ground as she pulled her jeans up over her hips before looking back up at him expectantly.

Rick recalled the moment he'd taken them suddenly and retrieved them from his back pocket. "These?"

Michonne nodded with impatience, hand outstretched.

He dangled them overhead grinning before pulling them back and putting them in his side pocket. "They're mine now."

She rolled her eyes, but the corners of her mouth twitched with amusement.

"Consider it a promise to do this again _real_ soon." He grinned.

_This was all so crazy_. They were two adults acting like love-struck teenagers.

"I'll call you later." Michonne stated, obviously thinking the same thing, before blowing him a kiss and a wink. "_To be continued..._"

He watched then as she hustled across his lawn toward where her car was cleverly parked down the street.

This wasn't sustainable as it was, he knew it. Sooner or later, one of them would want more than clandestine meetings and midday assignations; and as it stood, he figured it would more than likely be him. But for now, both he and Michonne seemed content that they were just having some good, old-fashioned, _dirty_ fun. And he couldn't argue with the truth of that. He shook the rest of those heavy thoughts off then, coming back down the stairs to meet Shane, still standing right where he'd left him.

_Thank God._

"Let's go, I'm starved." Rick opened his front door and let his friend out first.

Shane smiled at him as he exited and then cleared his throat theatrically before speaking. "And maybe once we settle down with our grub, you can tell me about why your kitchen is a wreck."


	3. Chapter 3 - whose are these?

**Whose Are These?**

_:::twriter12:::_

* * *

"Damn," Rick rolled off Michonne and collapsed on his back.

They were drenched with sweat. He didn't realize how loud they had been until they finished. Moments earlier the room was filled with screams, moans, commands, and pleas. Now it was quiet except for them struggling to catch their breath. He wasn't sure which he liked more — their syncopated heavy breathing or the sexual noises.

He loved any kind of sex with Michonne, though the morning sex was a favorite among favorites, because he rediscovered a part of himself he long ago forgot existed. It's not like he wasn't having sex before they hooked up. He dated and when there wasn't anyone in particular; he had a few reliable partners he could call. They were enjoyable enough, but it wasn't this.

With Michonne, he was a sexual being fully engaged in all aspects of sex — mind, body, and soul. It was more than a physical act of scratching an itch. He loved that there was no awkwardness. That in the middle of sex they could laugh one moment and ravage each other the next. It was a level of comfort he never experienced. Maybe it was the years of friendship, maybe it was the lustful attraction. There was a connection, a bond. Whatever it was it made them great together and he didn't want to lose it.

He placed his hand on her thigh. "How about breakfast?"

"Don't you mean lunch?" She rolled onto her stomach.

He loved the deep arch down the center of her back that forced his eyes to focus on her perfectly round ass. He placed his hand on her ass already thinking of what he wanted to do the next time they had sex; with the other hand he grabbed his phone from the nightstand. 11:40. "Damn. It's almost noon."

"Time flies when you're having fun," she said showcasing every inch of her glorious body by stretching her limbs. The sheen of sweat glistening on her smooth dark skin like glitter thanks to the sunlight.

He couldn't believe he was lucky enough to be with her, that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. Whenever he doubted it he envisioned the look on her face when he was inside of her or her eagerness to remove his clothes so they could have sex.

It felt like just twenty minutes ago that the clock said ten when he rolled on top of her so he could have her for what seemed like the thousandth time since they started this whatever it was they were doing.

He blinked a few times at the several missed calls and missed texts from Tyreese and Glenn. His mind tried to figure out what was going on. What he was missing. What he forgot.

He called Glenn.

"Too late now, dumbass. We're here."

He heard car doors slam and hung up without saying another word. He turned to Michonne. "Glenn and Tyreese are here."

"What?" Her eyes were wide with fear.

He scrambled out of bed, barely staying upright after getting tangled in the sheets, and ran naked to the window. "I forgot they were coming over. Football."

Michonne jumped out of bed and joined him at the window. His bedroom was at the front of the house with a clear view of the street.

Glenn was in his Michigan jersey, Tyreese in his alma mater, Florida State, baseball cap. They were getting things out of the car. Pulling up right behind them with the music blaring in his new black Jeep was Shane.

"Shit," he groaned, accepting this might be the end of their trysts.

Michonne was never ready to give into defeat so easy. She ran around the room, but mostly in a circle like something he'd only seen in movies. She would get more done if she slowed down but he wasn't about to give her any advice right now.

"Shit. My dress is on the couch."

"I'll get it," he said as she quickly put on her bra.

He must have been a sight running around naked with his dick flopping around. He came back and tossed her dress at her and tossed her shoes at her feet then slid on a pair of sweatpants.

"My panties?"

His eyes bulged. "I didn't see them." He tossed the sheets onto the floor.

"Rick, you're not hoarding my underwear are you?"

"I'm more interested in what's underneath your panties. We don't have time for that." He ran back to the window. Glenn carried Publix bags in both hands, Tyreese carried a hoagie platter, and Shane carried two cases of beer as they made their way up the sidewalk to the porch. "Out the back."

"Seriously, we're too old for this." She quickly walked to the back of the house.

He followed behind her hopefully shielding her in case the guys could see through the sheer white curtains on the glass door. She opened the back door and he placed his hands on her hips and spun her around so she faced him.

"We'll figure this out," he whispered and leaned into her and kissed her lips, ending it far sooner than he wanted.

"I know it was my idea to keep this for us and I'm not saying we have to tell anyone. Maybe plan our time better."

"I promise." He held her face in his hands. He hated the look on her face. She was just as unsure of how to handle people knowing about them but this was the second time he practically kicked her out of his house with her stuff in her hands so she wouldn't be seen. She wasn't some dirty secret; he needed to make sure she knew that.

Obnoxious banging on the door ended the moment.

She ran her hand over his bare chest. "Call me," she said.

"I will." He quickly grabbed her hand and kissed it, taking a couple of seconds to watch her until the banging started again.

"Hold your horses," he shouted as he headed for the front door. He sniffed himself along the way. He and Michonne had a lot of sex since she arrived at his place a little over twelve hours ago.

He unlocked the door and opened it, not waiting for them to enter before he headed into his bedroom. "I gotta hop in the shower."

He was surprised to not hear them giving him shit. He just heard the TV blaring through the JBL soundbar. Since he got the 75-inch Samsung, Rick's place was the go-to destination for all the games — football, basketball, MMA, it didn't matter.

In the short time they'd been hooking up, some of her things already found their way lying around looking right at home like a purple toothbrush and her black hair tie, even a pair of her earrings were on the counter. Afraid he might knock them into the sink and down the drain, he moved them to the nightstand on her side of the bed. Her side of the bed, he mused as he looked at it.

After his shower, he flopped in his recliner and immediately knew something was up as Tyreese and Glenn alternated their shit-eating grins between themselves, Shane, and him. "What?" He braced himself.

"Whose are these?" Shane smirked. Dangling from his finger were Michonne's yellow panties.

"Where did you find those?"

"In between the cushions. Classy. Expensive. Petite."

"Did you sniff them too?" Rick went over and snatched them from him and put them in his room and closed his bedroom door.

"So?" Tyreese asked.

"I don't know," Rick said as he sat back down.

"You don't know?" Glenn asked. "How do you not know?"

Rick shrugged.

"Was it that new waitress at the diner? She did give you extra bacon at no charge."

Rick rolled his eyes. "I don't know."

"Or maybe Jodie," he said. "She's been asking Maggie about you for weeks."

"I don't know who they belong to." Rick shrugged.

"Wait a minute." he slid forward on the couch. "How many women are you juggling?"

Rick wasn't in the habit of lying but he didn't want to admit he was with one woman because they would really get curious and the questions would go on long enough that they may hit too close to home.

"No way," Shane said, shaking his head tossing a football up in the air and catching it. "My man Rick here is a serialist monogamist. He's only whipped one pussy at a time."

"He has been MIA lately," Tyreese said. "But I think I agree with Shane. You're not the juggling type."

Glenn shook his head. "I don't know. There's been something about him lately. He's got a different vibe. Maybe he is dating around. There's nothing wrong with it as long as the women don't think it's more than it is."

Rick pointed at Glenn. "Thanks, Glenn."

"Oh, so you're beating them off with a stick now?" Shane tossed the football to him.

He had to stretch to catch the ball before it knocked over the lamp. "Something like that. You're the one that said I should get out there more."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with a little test drive before the down payment," Tyreese said.

He shook his head at Tyreese. He was more like Shane that Glenn, that's what being a star football player did.

Truth was, Rick never lacked for female attention. He actually had more than Shane, they just both like to pretend otherwise for Shane's ego. Rick didn't need to screw everything that moved in some misguided attempt to show how much of a man he was. He went for quality over quantity. And he didn't think he would ever find a woman better than Michonne. She was it for him. What he wanted to do was kick these assholes out of his house and go find Michonne.

"These bitches always fall for his good boy act," Shane said.

Rick kept his attention ESPN College GameDay as the camera scanned the crowd of screaming college kids. He cringed at the thought of Shane speaking so crass about Michonne even if he didn't know she was the one Rick was spending his time with now.

"So, she likes the good boys. The relationship kind. The guys who remember birthdays and anniversaries? And he likes her? It ain't Jodie. That chick is the kind that'll be happy getting fucked on all fours in an alley by a dumpster."

Glenn shook his head and frowned at Shane. "What is wrong with your brain? How do you think of these things?"

"Cause he's describing his girls," Rick said. Then he spotted the ring on Shane's finger. "Back in his past."

Shane winked at him. "Damn straight. I'm a changed man. So back to you, my man. Who is she?"

Rick shook his head. "Maybe you're not the only one who changed. I'm trying something new."

And that something new wasn't many women — for the first time he was focused on the right woman.


	4. Chapter 4 - kiss me softly

**KISS ME SOFTLY**

_:::_leeeel_:::_

* * *

"Oh-oh. Looks like someone's getting too old to hold their liquor."

Michonne turned from admiring Shane and Rosita's huge, brightly lit aquarium that divided their kitchen from the living room, and redirected her attention to where Sasha had gestured with the tilt of her chin. Over by the staircase, leaning casually against the railing, was none other than Rick himself. His mesmerizing eyes pinned in her direction.

Michonne instantly recognized the meaning behind the glazed look in his blue orbs. As they swept over her form, they held a carnal regard and a secret warmth.

It grew hotter in the room by the second.

"Mmm, apparently," Michonne murmured her pretend agreement, whilst passing her cool fingers along her neck. "When will he learn?"

At Shane and Rosita's home, their first official dinner party as a married couple was winding down to an end, and Michonne couldn't help but feel unsettled.

Dissatisfied.

Why? The food was good. The wine was stupendous. The company was exhilarating.

Still, she wasn't enjoying herself. At least, not as much as she should be. She acknowledged that perhaps her slightly soured disposition was due to her wanting the one thing she couldn't have—to be near Rick. To spend the evening with her arms wrapped possessively around him.

As a matter of fact, contrary to her earnest desire to stake claim on Rick as her man, she was doing her utmost to dodge his flirtatious advances born from liquor induced courage. They'd made an agreement. To keep their new love to themselves. Yet, it seemed as though Rick felt a similar longing to freely show his affections.

There was something about the intimacy of the night.

Watching those closest to her celebrate their best friends' new life together, was starkly reminiscent of Rosita and Shane's wedding day. The same day she'd let Rick into...her heart, amongst other places.

In any case, the timing still wasn't right.

The slight pang she felt to be out in the open with her friends would pass, just as soon as the night was over.

After Sasha regaled her with her latest adventure at the fire station, she excused herself to go use the bathroom. Michonne set aside her near-empty glass of Chardonnay and grabbed her phone from her purse.

"_Quit it."_

She looked up as Rick reached inside his shirt pocket, slipped out his cell phone, and peered at his screen. A small smile curved the corners of his beautiful mouth illuminated by the blue light but then that smile quickly turned devilish as his fingers tapped away an instant response.

"_Quit what?"_

Michonne sighed at his pretend ignorance.

"_Quit staring at me. You ain't slick, people are going to notice."_

"_Don't care. You look ravishing in that dress."_

She blushed so hard her cheeks hurt.

"_Yeah, you've mentioned that twice already. But thank you. Also, you should care. We've had 1 too many close calls as of recent. Hence, the decision for a mini-break. Remember?"_

"_Yeah, I remember. That was a bad, terrible, no-good idea...I miss you. And you, showing up here, looking like that baby, has me hurtin.'"_

"_Aww. Trust me, I'm hurtin' too. Love it when you wear that black shirt though. I just want to peel it right off. Later."_

"_Promise?"_

Michonne laughed a little too loudly.

"_Promise. Wink, wink. Just be patient."_

"_I'll try, but it won't be easy. Not when my girl is the most captivating woman in the room."_

Her heart stopped, then sped up, forcing her to take a deep breath. God, she was in too deep with this man. And loving every minute of it. It took her a minute to respond.

"_Your girl?"_

"Who you texting over there that's got you cheesing so hard?"

Distracted, she hadn't noticed Sasha's return. Michonne jumped and yanked the phone close to her chest. "Umm, it's no one." Her brain fumbled for words, "Just...just my mom. Some um, crazy story about, about her neighbor and...the dog." Jesus. That was lame.

"Really?" Sasha arched her brow. Clearly not buying it. "Which neighbor? Mr. Patrick, or Miss Josephine? Because you know both of them is hella crazy." Okay, maybe she was buying it. Thank god.

"Well, this time it's Miss Josephine." Lord, please don't strike her down for lying on a sweet, old lady.

"Oh my God. That woman is a trip, for real. You know her and my mom had words at the Church's bake sale last week. Here, pass me the phone. I know exactly how to deal with that old biddy."

Michonne shifted sideways. "Oh no girl. That's not necessary. Hey, you thirsty? You look parched. I _feel_ parched. Was about to top up so maybe I could get you something, if you want?"

"Nooo," Sasha frowned, dragging out her o. "I'm good. Maybe _you_ should quit while _you're_ ahead."

Michonne gave her a tight smile. "Good idea. Water it is." She was relieved to make her escape.

8*8*8*8*8*8*8

Rick was grateful when the dinner party came to an end. Most everyone started filtering out, preoccupied with thanking the hosts praising them for the entertaining night. He on the other hand wasn't ready to leave just yet. Rick took the opportunity to sneak up behind Michonne as she was alone in the kitchen, helping as usual with the clean up.

'_There's a spark of magic in your eyes._

_Candyland appears each time you smile.'_

"You hear that?" he whispered in her ear, swaying to the R&B classic still playing in the background. "Think this is our song."

Michonne chuckled. "Since when?"

Rick leaned forward as she said that, cupping her elbow, grazing his fingers against her skin. "Since now. C'mon, feel like dancing."

She jumped away from his touch, her hip bumping into the counter. "You've had too much to drink."

"Nope. Just love this song is all. And you, in this outfit." Rick glimpsed around before he snuck his hand onto the center of her back. He felt himself burning up as he glided his palm along the soft material of her white dress.

Michonne hissed a curse under her breath and shivered and he loved it. The elegant yet intricate design of the gown seemed to be made specifically to accentuate all of her assets. He'd been dumbstruck from the moment she'd arrived, and it was challenging, trying to peel his gaze away from her for the duration of the night.

"Please," he said, "Are you gonna make me beg?"

She faced him, leaning back to look him dead in the eye. "No one else is dancing Rick. People will think we're bonkers." She nudged his shoulder to create some distance.

"Bonkers?" he snorted. "Did you just say bonkers? Thought you were visiting folks in Virginia last week, not Great Britain."

Her eyes widened, mildly offended. "People say bonkers all the time."

"Yeah," he nodded. "In the back alley streets of Blackpool."

A huge grin cracked through her false indignation. "Whatever."

"But hey, because you look too damn gorgeous I'll give you one pass. Now come on, I wanna dance with you tonight."

He wanted to put his hands all over her tonight. He was about to say just that when suddenly, Maggie's sister popped up from nowhere.

"I'll dance with you, Rick."

What the hell? With a jerk, he spun around. "Uh…" How long had she been standing there? he wondered. "Naw...That's quite alright. My, my leg," His hand grabbed at his knee, "Been acting up lately."

Beth pouted. "But you just said—"

"Oh look." Michonne interrupted, pointing towards the front door where someone slinked into the house. "Who is that that just walked in? Isn't he that guy?"

"What guy?" Beth twisted around.

"You know...that guy with the hair you like? From um, from…"

"From Target?" Beth's voice went shrill. "He's _here_?"

Michonne snapped her fingers with a smug smile. "Right! That's the one. What was his name?"

"Travis. OMG! He actually came. I thought he totally bailed like a total jerkface." The lovestruck college freshman smoothed her palm over her totally short black dress, "Do I look okay? Be honest, really," she fussed.

Rick gave her a thumbs up.

Michonne concurred, nodding her head. "Totally. Why don't you go say hi."

As soon as the giggling teen was out of earshot, Rick faced his secret lover and placed his hand on her stomach, yearning for her heat. "I really want to kiss you right now."

She bit her lower lip and smiled. "Then do it." One shoulder lifted in a shrug, daring him.

Like the song said, there was a spark of magic in her eyes and fireworks set off inside of him. He grabbed Michonne's wrist, dragging her out of the kitchen entrance through the dark and towards his car. With her giggling beside him, they were leaving together without saying goodbye and he didn't care. He'd never felt so high, yet so weak with any other woman before.

As soon as he slid into his backseat next to her, she pressed her palm to his chest. He looked down and shook his head slightly. He never knew he could be this deep in-love. He barely understood it. But there was no denying it—Rick Grimes was a goner. He moved in, resting his lips on hers and she moaned, pushing against him, bringing her hands up to cup his neck, kneading his flesh. Satisfaction seeped everywhere inside, and he lifted her onto his lap as she shimmied her dress up to her thighs.

He'd been intimate with this woman many times, but the thrill still knocked the wind out of him.

"My place or yours?" he asked.

She sucked his bottom lip. "Both."


	5. Chapter 5 - interrupted

**KISS ME SOFTLY**

_:::__avintagekiss24__:::_

* * *

_We're headed to the bar. Bring your ass!_

Michonne's phone buzzes next to her on the couch, pulling her out of the trance that The Haunting of Hill House currently has her in. She grabs it, but keeps her eyes plastered on the screen as she shoves another handful of popcorn in her mouth. She glances down a quickly at the phone but shoots her eyes back toward the TV. It buzzes again, and then a third time, but Michonne sets it back down absentmindedly, entirely too engrossed with the Craine family. More text messages stream to her phone, but she ignores them all, pausing the show quickly to run into the kitchen for another Dr. Pepper and a pack of Reeses' Peanut Butter cups. She settles down into the couch again and throws the blanket back over her lap as she starts a new episode.

Her phone begins to chime loudly, but this time, it's an incoming FaceTime call. She groans loudly, throwing her head back and closing her eyes. The incoming call ends, but her phone immediately begins ringing again and she knows she's not going to be able to ignore it, or her persistent friend for much longer.

"Yes, Rosita?" She says, sighing a little as she accepts the call.

"Did you not get my text?"

"Nope."

"Liar. What are you doing?"

Michonne takes a bite of one of her peanut butter cups, "Netflix."

"Lame." Rosita answers, turning her head to the left, and then the right, checking herself out, "Come to the bar please."

Michonne scrunches up her face, "I'm good."

"Chonne, come on."

"I'm warm!" Michonne laughs, "And this show is really good, and it's Tuesday, and I have to work in the morning and-"

"And your best friend wants to see you. Everybody is coming! Shane, Rick, everybody. You'll be the only one not here."

Michonne pauses as Rick's name floats around her. It has been a few days since they've been able to see each other. She wants to see him, even if it's only to grab to beer and steal a kiss or two, "I'm not staying all night."

"You don't have to! Shane and I have an idea we wanna run by you guys. One hour, tops, I promise."

"Alright, alright. I'll be there in twenty."

"See ya, chicky!"

Michonne pops another Reeses' into her mouth and stands from the couch, throwing her hair into a ponytail before grabbing her jacket and keys and heading toward her car. She moves into the bar after twenty minutes on the dot, spotting Shane and Rosita at a square table at the back. She spots the back of Rick, Glenn, and Maggies' heads and pushes through the crowd, a smile illuminating her face as Rosita eyes her.

"Finally puta!" Rosita calls toward her, standing to embrace her friend, "She is so hard to get out of the house during the week."

Michonne rolls her eyes, hugging Maggie and Glenn, before she moves on the opposite side to the table to plop next to Shane. She connects eyes with Rick, who smirks quickly before he raises his beer to his lips, "Just cool it, I'm here now."

"You want something to drink, a beer or something?" Shane asks, bumping his shoulder into hers.

"Um, yeah. An angry orchard and a glass of water please."

Shane excuses himself from the table to order Michonne her drinks and the table erupts into chatter and laughter once more. Michonne shifts her eyes toward Rick who stares back at her intently, licking his lips while dropping his eyes down her mouth. She rolls her eyes playfully and takes a deep breath, trying to tune into Maggie and Rosita's lively conversation. Shane returns, sliding the cold beer and ice water Michonne's way before finally taking charge of the conversation.

"Alright guys. Here's the deal. Rosita won a trip to Miami at work over labor day weekend and we wanna make it a group thing." He spouts, getting straight to the point as he leans back in his chair, beer to his lips.

Rosita slaps his arm, shaking her head, "Well, I was going to present it a little more eloquently than that but I think it'd be fun if we take a long weekend. It's been a while since we've been able to go somewhere."

"It'll be expensive won't it? I mean, shit, labor day weekend plus how many rooms? I don't know." Glenn says, twirling his glass bottle on the table.

"Not necessarily. We can buy everything at once and divide it equally, then each get double rooms and bunk up." Rosita suggests.

"Or, all the girlies can stay in one room, and us boys can stay in another." Shane shrugs.

Maggie shakes her head, "I don't trust that idea for one minute. The last time we let y'all share a room, you ended up in jail. I think we should just all get our own rooms and just split it all between us. You never know, one of us might meet someone down there and need a little, _alone _time… if you catch my drift."

Rick watches as Michonne plays with the straw in her water, sipping more on that than the beer. The chatter picks up again at the table, everyone but the two of them arguing over arrangements and prices. He pulls out his phone and leans back in his chair, tapping on her name and typing out a quick message before he hits send. Michonne's wrist buzzes and she tilts it toward her, his message coming through her watch.

_I won't go if you don't… I wanna do it on the beach._

Michonne shoots her eyes at hm and has to stop herself from laughing out loud as he shrugs quickly and wiggles his eyebrows at her. He looks away quickly and engages with Shane, while Rosita turns her attention back toward Michonne, "Can you stay with us please? Who are you texting?"

"My mother, thank you." Michonne lies, "Guys? Guys!" Michonne calls loudly to get their full attention, "I'm in. Let's do it."

"Whoo! Me too." Rick laments, holding up his hand to give Michonne a high five.

"Well fuck, I guess I have to go then, huh?" Maggie asks, "I'm down."

All eyes shift to Glenn, who shakes his head, "Guys, my rent went up in January."

The table erupts into boos, with Shane and Rick throwing napkins at him until he finally gives up, "Okay, okay, okay. I'm in, I'm in."

Michonne raises her beer to her lips, taking a few gulps of the golden liquid before sliding her eyes toward her curly haired secret. He winks quickly then turns his attention back to Shane and Rosita. His phone vibrates in his pocket. He pulls it out, keeping it low underneath the table as Michonne's name flashes across the screen.

_I don't want sand in my ass crack._

Michonne wraps her robe around her body and slips her feet into her white Keds. She slips quietly through her room toward the front door, not wanting to alert Maggie and Rosita and Shane in the rooms on either side of hers. She pulls it open slowly and peaks her head up and down the hallway, making sure her coast is clear. She steps out into the hallway and squints slightly as she gently closes the door and takes off in a sprint toward Rick's room. She knocks quickly, still turning her head up and down the hallway as she hears him moving around inside.

The door pops open and she pushes her way inside, jumping into Rick's arms almost immediately. He chuckles into her mouth as she kisses him. He sits her back down on her feet but continues to feast on her mouth as they start to move backward toward his bed, pulling of random articles of clothing. Her robe, his shirt, her shoes, his boxers. They fall back onto the bed as soon, Michonne climbing on top of his naked frame. She leans up, resting her hands on his chest before she pulls her thin white sleep shirt over her head, exposing her beautiful breasts to him. Rick smiles as he sits up and wraps his arms around her back, pushing his face into her chest.

"I've wanted to motorboat these since the moment we landed." He mumbles into her skin, shaking his head back and forth in between her mountains.

She giggles, throwing her head back before resting her chin on the top of his head as his tongue darts out of his mouth to lick her tight right nipple, "I thought dinner would never end! God, can Rosita talk!"

Rick laughs again, leaving sloppy kisses on her chest as his hands move down her body to remove the short plaid shorts that cover her bottom half, "Shane too, shit." He grumbles, lifting her from his lap to push her shorts away from her, "But enough about them."

"That's right. It's just you and me now."

She pushes him back on the bed and leans down to collect his lips with hers again. Rick moans into her sweet mouth as her hips begin to grind against him. She pulls back up and lifts her hips, ready to take him all in. Rick squeezes her sides with his large hands before running them up and down her skin. Michonne grabs his length, giving it a squeeze and rubbing him quickly before she rises up and guides him toward her center. She sits down slowly on him, closing her eyes as he fills her awaiting body. Rick hisses lightly as her warmth covers him and keeps a hold of her hips as she wiggles slightly to adjust to him.

She starts to move, slowly at first, rising up and then sitting back down on him, taking all of him in. Rick bucks his hips into her, moving with her to intensify the feeling of him. She digs her fingers into his skin as she bounces on him, her hips and body beginning to move faster. Their moans mix and rise into the room as sweat begins to spring from their skin. The air grows sticky from the friction and heat caused by their bodies, a random blast of cold air cooling them as the air conditioner kicks on. Rick leans up to kiss her passionately again, slipping his tongue into her mouth as he digs his hands into her hair. Michonne throws her head back, rolling her hips into his as she hangs onto his shoulders, eager and ready for her impending release.

Her octave starts to rise, her legs start to involuntarily shake, and Rick knows this pretty girl is about to explode. He holds onto her hips firmly and bucks into her again, meeting her pressure and frantic pace.

"Rick? Rick! Open up!"

"Oh shit!" Michonne gasps, her hips faltering at the sudden knocks at the door, "Fuck!"

They both scramble out the bed, grabbing at their clothing from the floor. They swear and mumble to themselves as they trip and fall all over each other as they try to step into their underwear and pants. They both stop in their tracks as the banging starts up again, Glenn and Shane's voices echoing through the door. Michonne looks at Rick with wide eyes, throwing her hands in the air.

"Rick, come on man!"

"H-hang on, hang on." He calls back, glancing nervously between Michonne and the door.

"Hang on?!" She hisses in between her teeth, "Where am I supposed to go? Get them to go away!"

"How am I supposed to do that?!" He whispers harshly back, "They're not gonna stop."

Michonne slumps her shoulders and sends her eyes toward the ceiling, "Fucking great."

The knocks come again, this time louder and more impatient. Rick glances to his left, then does a double take as he spots the half open sliding door to the closet. Without a second thought, he starts pushing Michonne toward it, despite her pleas, "What are doing?! Are you crazy?"

He kisses her quickly, pecking her lips and nose and eyelids as he shoves her into the closet, "I'm sorry babe. I'm so sorry. Don't be mad!"

"Don't be mad!" She screeches, "Are you fucking kidding me!"

He slides the door shut and pulls his basketball shorts back up around his waist. The knocking and calls continue as Rick rushes toward the door, "Guys, you're going to wake up the entire hotel. What the hell do you want?"

Glenn and Shane push past him and into the room, cigars and whiskey in hand, "Let's have a smoke on the balcony. It's our first night here, we gotta get some dude time in." Glenn smiles, stopping in his tracks as he glances around the room. He tilts his head toward the ceiling and takes a breath, "It smells like sex in here."

Rick rolls his eyes and moves toward the patio door, "Shut up."

Shane holds out his arm to stop Rick and takes a deep breath himself, "He's right. It smells like punani in here. Where we uh, interrupting something, Ricky boy?" Shane asks, wiggling his eyebrows before glancing around the room.

"Do you see anybody in here? No, you weren't interrupting anything."

Michonne tosses her arms over her chest, shaking her head in anger as she stands in the closet, listening to their muffled conversation. She's gonna kill him when she gets him alone again.

"It's okay dude, where is she, in the bathroom? You could have told us to leave, we'd understand." Glenn pipes in.

Shane turns his head toward the open bathroom door, then slides his eyes toward the closet, then back toward Rick, a slow smile spreading on his lips. Rick catches his look and moves toward the patio door, pushing it open and praying to the heavens above that Shane just drops it, "Will you stop? You honestly think I'd shove a girl into the closet? That's fucked up."

Shane and Glenn think it over, then nod quickly, agreeing with their friend, "That would be fucked up. Rosita would never talk to me again if I did some shit like that."

"Thank you. Can we smoke now?"

The three converge on the patio and Rick slides the door closed behind them, glancing quickly back at the closet door before turning his attention toward these two knuckleheads. Michonne waits a beat before slowly pushing at the closet door and peaking out to make sure that they are all facing the beach. Once the coast is once again clear, she bolts from the closet, closing it behind her quickly and makes a straight line for the front door, slipping out unnoticed. She shoves her hands into the pockets of her robe and moves quickly back into her room, falling onto her bed and staring up at the ceiling. She's never been cockblocked this hard in her life.

Damn it.


	6. Chapter 6 - ex's and oh's

**EX's AND OH's**

_:::_ RickRhymes_:::_

* * *

"Here you go," Rick handed Michonne a bar of chocolate and a cup of soda from the concession stand. "They were out of Snickers, so I got you a Baby Ruth."

"Oh...thanks." She took the items, but was noticeably disappointed.

"What? It's the next best thing."

"A Milky Way would have been the next best thing."

"I don't think so. Milky Ways don't even have peanuts. A Baby Ruth has the same ingredients as a Snickers." He grabbed the candy from her hand and listed off the ingredients. "Peanuts, nougat, caramel. It's the same bar."

"On paper, maybe. But the textures are worlds apart. A Snickers has tiny peanuts and _gooey_ caramel. A Baby Ruth has huge peanuts and dry caramel. It crumbles everywhere when you eat it. It's reckless. But a Milky Way is structured exactly like a Snickers."

Rick stared at her, blankly, feeling like they were stuck in an episode of _Seinfeld_. "Do you...want me to go back...?"

She grinned. "No. Just making a point."

"I've got a point to make, too." He slipped his arms around her waist and began to nip lightly at her neck.

"Rick," she made a half-hearted attempt to wiggle out of his grasp. "Shane and Rosita are going to be here any minute."

He reluctantly pulled away and strolled over to the displays for that week's featured movies, feigning interest in them.

"I'm starting to regret even coming out here," he mused, his libido kicking in.

"Yeah, I'm more in the mood for a _night in_ myself," she concurred, unwrapping her Baby Ruth bar and taking a bite.

Rick shook his head, smiling. She never could wait until the actual movie to start eating her food, but she usually managed to make it to the opening credits. They weren't even in the theater yet.

"But… if we _both_ back out now, they'll definitely think something's up."

"Hmm," Michonne mumbled, and he could see the wheels turning in her head. "Maybe we can just lose them, more or less."

Rick's interest was piqued. "I'm listening."

"We can take a lap around the theater, pretend each of us is running late. By the time we _get here_," she used air quotes for the last two words. "It could be too crowded for the four of us to sit together."

"Not a bad plan. But what good does sitting alone do us in a movie theater full of people?"

"We could always get a bucket of popcorn and do..._the trick_."

Rick furrowed his brow, before his recollection of the popcorn bucket trick dawned on him. He gripped Michonne by both shoulders and held her at arm's length. "Are you serious?"

"So, you know what I'm talking about?"

"Of course! But I didn't know people actually did it. I thought it was a myth."

"Maybe it is. I've never done it before."

"So, do you have anything to cut -"

"_Hey, asshole!" _

Shane's irate voiced boomed across the theater lobby. He stormed toward them purposefully, with Rosita scurrying behind him. "You don't answer your phone?"

Rick backed up from Michonne as their friends approached. He patted his jacket and jeans, but all he had on him was his wallet. "Guess I left it at home. What's wrong?"

"Bad news. We got someone else tagging along and you're not going to like who it is." He paused for emphasis. "_Dawn_."

"_Dawn?_" Rick was both confused and annoyed by the news.

"Your old girlfriend, Dawn?" Michonne clarified.

"That's the one," Shane confirmed. "She transferred divisions a while back. Haven't heard from her in months. We stopped at the drugstore on the way here, and there she was. Then this one," Shane wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulder. "This one invites her to come to the movie with us."

"Sorry, Rick," Rosita apologized. "I didn't know you guys had a thing."

Rick exhaled deeply, staring longingly at the popcorn buckets stacked behind the concession stand. This evening had gone from good to _fantastic_ to uncomfortable within the span of a minute. "It's alright. We're all adults here."

"And just so you know… She didn't even seem that interested in coming until I mentioned you would be here." Rosita confessed. "Sounds like she might want to…"

At that moment, the lobby door swung open and Dawn breezed inside. She gave a short wave when she spotted them across the room, then strode purposefully to the ticket station.

Rick buried his face in his palm, hoping desperately that Rosita read those signs wrong. Trying to enjoy an evening out with Michonne, without tipping off their friends he was indeed _with_ Michonne, was hard enough. Now he'd be fending off an old flame looking to rekindle things, to boot.

"Shane, the line's getting long," Rosita informed her husband, gesturing to a large group of people who were filing in the entrance.

"_Shit_. Alright, we'll be back in a minute. Good luck," Shane said to Rick over his shoulder.

The couple passed Dawn on their way to the ticket stand. They exchanged words Rick couldn't make out before she approached him and Michonne.

"Hi, guys. Long time, no see," she greeted them warmly.

"Tell me about it," Rick said.

The three of them rifled through the usual pleasantries about work and the weather. They recounted the highlights of Shane and Rosita's wedding. But before long, they were fresh out of things to say.

Rick peered over Dawn's shoulder to see Shane and Rosita at the back of a long line that had formed at the ticket counter. The twenty or so people in front of them seemed to be teenagers. Which meant they'd probably all be paying separately. He wrapped his hand around the back of his neck to try to ease the tension there.

"It looks like they are going to be a while," Michonne observed aloud.

"Yeah." Rick agreed.

"So I'm going to run to the bathroom."

The tension in his neck got worse at the prospect of being left alone with Dawn.

"Are you sure you don't want to wait until after we get seats?" He asked. What he meant was, _Please stay here so I don't have to deal with this_.

"I'm sure." She replied. What she meant was, _It's better to get this out of the way now_. "Hold my soda."

She shoved her cup into his hands and made her way to the bathroom about forty feet away.

"So, really. How have you been?" Dawn asked as soon as Michonne was out of sight. Her tone of voice changed a bit now that she was talking to _just_ him. "You seem different."

"I mean, things have been good. No complaints. I started going on runs," he lied. "It's really made a difference."

"Hmm. I'll have to give that a try."

"So, I heard you ended up in -".

"Rick, I -".

They both began at the same time, then stopped. She pursed her lips and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Rick gestured for her to go ahead.

"Sorry. I just wanted to say...I've never really felt right about the last time we talked."

That would have been during their break up, after Rick confessed their relationship was moving too fast, and that he couldn't return the depth of feelings she had for him.

"Me either. But, it was a rough situation for the both of us." Rick absently sipped at Michonne's soda to keep from fidgeting in his discomfort.

Before they dated, he never had trouble being around Dawn. Their friendship had been easy and comfortable. _Guess you can never really go back_, he thought to himself.

"After you told me how you felt, I think I may have overreacted."

"It's okay. I get it."

"No, I owe you an apology. You were just being honest with me, and I shut you out completely."

That, she had. From that day forward, Dawn had treated Rick with a cool, distant politeness, never letting their interactions stray beyond work-related matters. They had gone from friends to lovers to nothing. And then, before he knew it, she was gone.

But he never blamed her. She did what she had to do, just as he had. Truth be told, if Michonne walked out of that bathroom right now and confessed she didn't have the same feelings for him that he had for her, he didn't know what he would do, either.

It wasn't a scenario he cared to dwell on.

"I guess there's a reason they always tell you not to date coworkers."

He silently begged her to agree with his objective, rational summation of their break up. _Oh, it's nothing personal… Office romances only complicate things… It's really all for the best…_

Instead, he got:

"You really think so?"

Rick nodded apprehensively, unprepared to defend his position. He continued to down Michonne's drink.

"Ever since I transferred…" She took a step closer to him, and he looked nervously at the bathroom, hoping Michonne would come out and save him. "I've realized how much easier it is to be with someone who understands what we do. I've dated doctors, programmers, journalists. But I just can't seem to make a connection with someone who isn't a -"

Dawn stopped short of finishing her sentence, and stared at him in confusion. But that was soon replaced by a look of understanding, and she took a step back again. Slurping sounds emitted from the cup in Rick's hands as he finished most of the drink.

"Clearly, you haven't had that same experience," Dawn deduced, gesturing to the women's bathroom door that Rick's eyes had been darting to for their entire conversation. "How long have you been together?"

"It's...still new," he stammered, slowing realizing that he had somehow revealed his relationship with Michonne to Dawn.

After a prolonged, painfully awkward silence, Dawn let her head rest in one of her palms. "I wish Rosita would have told me that. I feel a little ridiculous."

"No, it's not your… Actually, Shane and Rosita don't know."

"Oh."

"We just haven't found the right time to tell them," he explained, not wanting it to put off the wrong impression about his relationship. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything."

"Oh...yeah, of course." Dawn seemed to be tripping over her words, obviously feeling some embarrassment. She raised her hand to her mouth, closing an imaginary lock on her lips and tossing away the imaginary key. They both laughed, nervously.

"Hey, Dawn. How did you know?"

Rick was convinced Shane and Rosita were none the wiser, but if Dawn could figure it out in just a few minutes, what were the chances their best friends hadn't already?

"You couldn't keep your eyes off the ladies' room door after she went in there."

Rick nodded.

"And you just polished off _her_ drink. That's a pretty bold move, unless you already know she likes you enough to let you get away with it."

He bit back a grin as Shane and Rosita approached. "You guys ready?" Rosita asked, eyes darting curiously between the two former lovers.

"Yeah, you go ahead. I'm just going to grab Michonne from the bathroom," Rick said.

His friends moved to the theater and he hung a right, stopping in front of the ladies' room and rapping lightly on the door. "The coast is clear."

Michonne opened the door immediately, confirming for him she had just been waiting on the other side this whole time.

"So… Did she convince you to go back over to the dark side?"

"It's funny you ask, because, _yes_. She absolutely did." He joked.

Michonne stomped her foot on the ground, playing along. "Damn!"

"I just think I need somebody who's going to stand by me in a situation like that."

She sighed, and extended her arm for a hand shake. "Well, it was fun while it lasted."

"Eh," Rick cocked his head to the side. "It was what it was."

She leaned forward and pressed a firm kiss to his mouth.

"Seriously, now. What did you tell her?" She asked, ending their banter.

"I didn't have to tell her anything. She figured it out on her own."

"Really? How?"

Rick looked down at her nearly empty soda cup. "Women's intuition, I guess."


	7. Chapter 7 - blink

**Blink**

_:::_ Chellepo_:::_

* * *

"It's Lori, ain't it! That girls been wanting a piece of you for years and you finally gave it to her!"

Rick grinned with a mouthful of his burger. Shane had been trying to guess who his "mystery" woman was from the minute they pulled out of the station in their patrol car. Now, they were parked alongside the town square having lunch, and his amusement at Shane's persistence hadn't waned.

He swallowed and answered, "No, I'm not involved with Lori."

"Praise the Lord! That chick is needy as hell! She's the type that tells you to make a decision, but then gets mad at you for making it."

Rick didn't know enough about Lori to comment on Shane's assessment, but he was positive that he'd reached that conclusion during his time as the sheriff's office's resident gigolo before he met Rosita.

"Why do you care so much who I'm seeing?" Rick asked.

Shane shrugged, "I just wanna know who's responsible for putting this extra pep in your step. You're like a new man. She must be something else."

Rick sighed; his mind filling with images of Michonne. She was indeed something else, and every moment he spent with her, left him craving more. He was falling head over heels in love with her, and their secret wasn't going to able to be a secret much longer. He was still kicking himself for the whole closet fiasco in Miami, and he never wanted a repeat of that. They were going to have to come clean soon, but it wasn't going to be because he spilled the beans over burgers with Shane.

"She's amazing, and I know y'all are gonna love her; but I'm not ready to share her just yet. I like having her all to myself," he said.

"Alright, alright, I get it. Doesn't mean I'm gonna stop asking though," Shane laughed.

Rick nodded. "Oh, I know. You never know when to quit…"

"_All units be advised...two alarm fire reported at 4101 Alexandria Street. Fire and rescue are on scene..."_

The voice on the radio made the sandwich Shane was holding, drop from his hand into the box on his lap, and he went more pale than Rick had ever seen him. The engine and sirens roared to life, and Rick braced himself as Shane squealed the tires by pulling a sharp u-turn in the middle of the street. He grabbed what was left of their lunch and tossed it through the window into the trashcan on the corner as they sped by.

He turned back to his partner whose attention was laser focused on the road ahead; cursing under his breath when other drivers didn't move out of his way fast enough.

"What is it? What's wrong?" He asked, and Shane barely paid him any attention as wove in and out of traffic, his fingers gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.

"That address," he mumbled, "Rosita works there."

Rick remained silent as the words sunk in, and his heart started thumping hard and fast in his chest. The fire was at the law firm where his friend and his partner's wife worked on the 14th floor, and both of them knew that fires in high rise buildings were especially difficult to fight. That alone was enough to make him worry, but one additional factor was threatening to send him into a tailspin of panic that he couldn't afford especially with Shane already a mess.

Michonne worked there too.

Shane jumped out of the car after barely throwing it into park. He took off running toward a crowd of of people standing together at a safe distance from the building, leaving Rick to shut off the engine and follow a few seconds later. As he exited the vehicle, all he could think was that the scene was like something out of a movie. Emergency vehicles were spread out as far as the eye could see, as a crowd of onlookers gathered behind the police tape. Smoke was pouring out of a few blown out windows, and some firefighters were rushing inside while others were busy escorting people out and away from the building. Rick took all of it in; tapping down his own distress to stay level-headed for Shane.

Besides, he knew Michonne was alright. She was smart and tough; the type to not get too frazzled in an emergency. Knowing her, she was probably somewhere helping the less capable people make it out. He didn't need to worry about her, but that knowledge didn't stop him from wanting to freak out. She'd probably give him one of her heart-stopping smiles and tease him mercilessly about freaking out later. It was a teasing he'd gladly take just as long as she was ok.

He followed Shane's path through the crowd of people who had obviously made it out of the building before it got too bad. They were huddled together, staring at the building in a mixture of shock and sadness. Every face he passed, he searched, hoping to find Michonne's bright, earthy eyes looking back at him and his frustration grew with every passing second.

"Rosie!"

"Shane!"

Rick pushed through the crowd just in time to witness a sobbing Rosita throw herself into Shane's arms, and he held on to her like she was the most precious thing in the world to him.

"Rosita! Baby, thank God you're alright!"

"I'm so glad you're here! It was so awful!"

Seeing Rosita without Michonne was all it took for the fragile hold Rick had on his emotions to loosen. She was standing with a group of people who looked like they'd escaped the chaos around them untouched. Michonne should've been with them. If she was with them, that would mean she was ok. But she wasn't with them, and he felt like the ground had opened up underneath him.

He rushed over to Shane and Rosita, not caring about interrupting their moment, or anything else except finding Michonne.

"Rosita, where's Michonne?"

She blinked a few times, like it took a minute for her to understand what he was asking. He was about to ask again when she finally answered.

"I-I don't know. This is her muster location for emergencies, so she should be here. She was going to get coffee, and then heading down to the file room…" Her words trailed off, and her eyes grew wide. "Oh, god. That's where the fire started…"

He went numb all over, and his extensive emergency management training meant nothing as he raced across the plaza headed for the firefighters. Somewhere at the edges of his consciousness, he heard Shane yelling for him, but he couldn't stop. There were groups of people all over the place but before he searched them, he had to know if they'd gotten everyone out of the building. He'd already resigned himself to the fact that if there was even a chance she was still in there, he was going in after her. Procedure be damned.

There were two firemen headed in his direction, and he recognized one of them from playing against each other in the Cops vs. Firemen softball league. He jogged over to them, hoping they'd be able to help.

"Hey! T-Dog!"

The man greeted him with a tight smile and a nod.

"Grimes! This whole thing is a mess, isn't it?"

Rick nodded, and asked, "Is everyone out of the building?"

"Yeah, finally. The fire is almost out too. This one could've been a whole lot worse." Rick couldn't share the relief he heard in T-Dog's voice.

"Yeah...was one of the people you rescued an African-American woman, late 20s, medium height, with dreadlocks?"

T-Dog scratched the back of neck before saying, "Yeah. We brought a woman out matching that description not long ago. The paramedics took her..."

Rick didn't stick around to hear anymore, and headed toward where the ambulances were staged. The hesitation in T-Dog's voice was too much to handle, and it escalated his growing terror. He ran as fast as he could; saying a prayer with every, single step. He couldn't breathe. Fear had him by the throat and the only thing that would loosen its cold, iron grip was finding Michonne.

Just as he got near enough to check the ambulances, one pulled away with lights flashing and sirens blaring. Two weary paramedics walked away from where it had been parked, shaking their heads.

The older one commented, "That one was bad."

"Yeah. If she makes it, it would be a miracle," her partner agreed, and the idea of Michonne being the patient in the back of that ambulance nearly brought Rick to his knees. A bleak, almost crippling vision of a life without Michonne's presence in it, flashed before his eyes and made the tears burning his eyes finally start to trickle down his cheeks. His hands twitched at his side, as he fought to regain a little bit of his composure. He couldn't lose it. Not yet anyway; not before he knew for sure. He wouldn't give up on her. He couldn't.

He loved her; was in love with her, and he instantly regretted the time they'd wasted by pretending not to be together. He loved her and he hadn't told her; he loved her and she didn't know that in a short amount of time she'd become as necessary to him as air. Michonne was it for him, and she had been ever since the night of Shane and Rosita's wedding. He may have been halfway in love with her even then.

He was resolved to tell her all of his realizations, starting with just how much he loved her, and he'd tell her everyday for as long as she'd let let him. He swore to himself that when he found her, they wouldn't waste another second worrying about what their friends thought, or what would happen if it didn't work out. He loved her and he needed to find her.

"Deputy? Are you ok?" The hesitant voice of one of the paramedics jarred his attention and he realized he'd been dumbly standing there long enough to cause concern in the emergency responders.

He cleared his throat and stuttered, "I'm-I'm looking for a woman. African American, mid to late 20s, about 5'-6", with dark brown dreadlocks that look like gold at the ends. She…she has brown eyes and she is probably wearing a gold necklace with an M on it that her mother gave her when she turned twelve." He described her as best he could, even though his mouth was dry as cotton. He was oversharing; giving way too many details that would do the paramedics no good. The cop in him knew better but the desperate man looking for the love of his life, was coming to the end of his rope.

The paramedics exchanged looks, and he could already hear the standardized HIPPA statement about privacy and medical information they were about to recite to him. He couldn't hear that; not when they had had the power to either destroy his whole world, or give him back the tiniest bit of hope.

He held up one, trembling hand and shook his head.

"Please," he whispered, "Please...I-I need to know if my..." Girlfriend seemed like a horribly inadequate way to describe what she was to him. She was his best friend, his confidant, his peace. "The woman I love was in that building, and I need you to tell me she wasn't in that ambulance," he continued, not caring if he sounded like the most desperate man on the face of the earth. He was desperate, and he wasn't going to let anything stop him from getting to Michonne, whether she was still somewhere in the melee of the fire scene or at Grady Memorial.

"Rick? What's going on?" He spun around and was thankful to see another face he recognized. Aaron had been hanging out with their group of friends lately, and more importantly, he was a paramedic.

"Michonne works here, and they brought someone fitting her description over this way...and I need to know she's ok."

Aaron gestured to an ambulance sitting at the end of the row, and said, "She's in the back of my bus..."

All at once, Rick was both relieved and still terrified. The other paramedics were quickly forgotten, and he stumbled over his own feet following Aaron to the back doors of the ambulance at the end of the row. When he saw her, sitting on a stretcher breathing into an oxygen mask, his heart leapt to his throat.

"Michonne," he breathed, and her eyes shot open, before the corners of them crinkled up, and she reached for him with a trembling hand. He quickly pulled himself up into the bay and cupped her face in his palms. "You're here," he whispered; his voice so thick with emotion that he could barely get the words out.

She nodded, covering his hands with hers and he relished the warmth of her skin. He pressed his forehead against hers, and released the breath he'd been holding from the minute he realized she was missing.

"Thank God…I was so worried." He pulled back so he could look at her, grateful to be so lucky to have her safe and mostly unharmed. She reeked of smoke, her hair was falling out of the neat bun she liked to wear to work, her skirt was torn, and her feet were bare, but she was still the most beautiful sight.

"What happened?" He asked.

She tried to remove the oxygen mask, but he stilled her hand and looked to Aaron for an answer.

"She was making sure everyone evacuated her floor and she inhaled entirely too much smoke," he explained. "She was on the verge of passing out when we got to her."

That sounded like something she would do, and he was both proud and pissed off about it. Of course she would want to help people at the risk of her own safety.

The fear came back with a vengeance. Smoke inhalation cases were tricky. A person could be fine one minute and…he couldn't finish that thought.

Pushing his anxiety to the background, he squeezed her hand a little tighter and asked, "Is she going to be ok?"

Aaron nodded, "Looks like it, but to be on the safe side, we're taking her to Grady to get checked out."

"I'm riding," Rick stated, which sparked Michonne to start shaking her head. She was definitely not thinking clearly if she thought he was going to leave her side for a second. "I'm riding." He repeated, this time making sure his tone left no room for argument.

Aaron nodded and said, "Sure thing. We'll be ready to go in a few, I just want to make sure no one needs anything."

Rick ignored the little smirk on Aaron's lips before he walked away, and refocused his attention on Michonne. She reached up and slid her mask off, much to his dismay.

"Rick," she croaked, and from the grittiness of her voice, he could tell Aaron hadn't been exaggerating about the amount of smoke she'd inhaled.

"You need to keep that on," he said.

She paid no attention to his admonishment and replied, "I need you to hear that I'm really fine."

The coughing fit that punctuated her words, didn't set his mind at ease.

"That cough says otherwise. Now put your mask back on."

She rolled her eyes and did as she was told, but her eyes kept that challenging twinkle he loved so much. It reminded him of the promises he'd made to God and to himself about not letting another minute pass without her knowing what was on his heart.

"I love you," he blurted, and her eyes went wide. "I love you and I don't want us to be a secret anymore. I want us to start building a life together. You are everything I've ever wanted, and a whole lot of things I didn't know I needed. I've known it for a while…maybe even since the beginning. I'm just sorry it took thinking I'd lost you to give me enough courage to tell you. I don't know if you feel the same way, but either way, you gotta know. I love you, so damn much."

Her eyes had gone glassy and with a trembling hand, she reached for her mask again. He tried to stop her, but she silenced him with a glare.

"Rick Grimes. You are not going to tell me you love me for the first time and not let me say it back," she croaked. A watery smile played on her lips as she gently ran her hands through his sweat dampened hair. "All those things are the same for me, and I love you too."

It didn't matter that they were sitting in the back of an ambulance. He couldn't stop the smile from stretching across his face much like he couldn't stop himself from pulling her into his arms and pressing his lips against hers in a soft kiss. It wasn't the time or the place for anything more, but it was a kiss filled with promises of things to come.

"Well, well…looks like you found her!" Shane's voice and Rosita's gasps shocked them out of the moment, and they both giggled as they pulled away from each other. He carefully slipped Michonne's mask back over her nose and mouth before taking her hand in his and squeezing it tight.

He dragged his eyes away from his love and glanced at their awestruck friends.

"Yeah. I found her," he agreed.

The fact that Michonne was on her way to the hospital seemed to outweigh any inclination they had to question them about their relationship. Both Rosita and Shane were much more interested in finding out what happened, and if she was going to be ok. He knew that wasn't going to last. As soon as Michonne was better, it was going to be worse than any inquisition.

When Aaron returned, the friends hugged Michonne, and promised to meet them at the hospital later with the rest of the gang in tow.

The ambulance doors were almost shut when Shane shouted, "Oh shit! I guess those panties I found stuffed in your couch were Michonne's!"

Rick's cheeks burned and a sound, somewhere between a squeak and a gasp, slipped out of Michonne.

He turned to her and asked, "Is it too late to reconsider going public?"


End file.
